Rensselaer Republican, Volume 17, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 October 1884 — A Story of Gov. Vance. [ARTICLE]

A Story of Gov. Vance.

I heard Zeb Vance telling how lie captured the vote of a backwoods settlement in North Carolina when he first ran for Congress. He said he had never been in that settlement and didn’t know the boys. He rode over the mountains and found about sixty sovereigns at a cross-road grocery, and he got down and hitched his horse and began to make their acquaintance and crack his jokes around, and thought he was gettingalongpretty well with them, but he noticed an old man with shaggy eyebrows and big brass spectacles sitting on a chunk and . marking in the sasd with a stick. The old man didn’t seem to pay any attention to Vance, and after a while Vance concluded that the old man was bell-wether of the flock and that it was necessary to capture him, so he sidled up close to him and the old man got up and shook himself and leaned forward on his stick and said solemnly: “This is Mr. Vance, I believe?” “Yes, sir,” said Vance. “And you have come over here to see my boys about th er votes, I believe?” “Yes, sir,” said Vance, “that is my business.” ‘‘Well, sir,” said the old man, “afore you proceed with that business I would like to ax you a few questions.” “Certainly, sir; certainly,” said Vance. “What church mout you belong to?” said the old man. - -, That was a sockdoldger—Vance didn’t belong to any church. He knew that religion and meeting was a big thing in the back woods and controlled their politics, but he didn’t know what their religion was, for North Carolina was powerfully spotted. But he squared himself for the responsibility, and says he: “Well, now, my friend, I will tell you about that, for it is a fair question. Of course it is. Well, you see my grandfather come from Scotland, and you know that over in Scotland everybody is Presbyterian.” Here he paused to note the effect, but saw no sign of sympathy with his grandpa. “But my grandmother came from England, and over there everybody belongs to the Episcopal Church.” He paused again and the old man marked another mark-in the sand and spit his tobacco away off. “But my father was born in this country in a Methodist settlement, and so he grew up a Methodist.” Still nd sign of approval from the old man, and so Vance took his last shot and said : “But my good old mother was a Baptist, and it’s my opinion that a man has got to go under water to go to heaven.” The old man walked up and, taking him by the hand, said: “Well, you are all right, Mr. Vance,” and then, turning to the crowd, said: “Boy’s, he’ll do, and you may vote for ‘him. I thought he looked like a Baptist,” And the old man slowly drew a flask from his coat-tail and handed it to Vance to seal his faith.— Bill Arp in Atlanta Constitution.